Military Law in the Republic of Poland

Scientific and Technical Journal Safety & Defense 5(2) (2019) 28–34 Military Law in the Republic of Poland Mariusz Antoni KAMIŃSKI War Studies University, Warsaw, Poland; , ORCID: 0000-0001-9395-9744 Abstract The article presents an analysis of military law in the legal system of the Republic of Poland. On the one hand, it is a very specialized area of law, and on the other, it is a very extensive field regulated in several hundred national legal acts of varying importance (universally and internally binding), as well as by international law. The author attempts to organize the subject matter of military law and to specify its elements divided into subject-specific blocks. At the same time, in order to ensure a better understanding of the nature of military law, the article discusses the role of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland in times of peace, crisis, and war. The author used critical analysis of literature on legal science and security sciences, and source materials: mainly acts of universally binding law (the Constitution, acts, and regulations), as well as acts of internally binding law (instructions, ordinances, resolutions, decisions, guidelines, and agreements of various state authorities). Keywords: defense law, law, legal system, military law, national security law, security law 1. Introduction At the same time, military law is both a separate part of national security law (related to military security) and a part of the defense law of the Republic of Poland. The aim of the article is to analyze the military law in the legal system of the Republic of Poland and to try to organize its subject matter. At the same time, in order to ensure a better understanding of the nature of military law, the article will discuss the role of armed forces in times of peace, crisis, and war. The main research problem was formulated as the following question: – What is the subject matter of military law and can its characteristic elements be distinguished by subject-specific blocks for practical purposes? Due to the fact that military law issues are interdisciplinary in nature, I used both critical analysis of legal science literature and security sciences in my research. Moreover, In a democratic law-abiding state, armed forces are one of the most important elements of the national security system. Their primary task is to defend the independence and sovereignty of the state (by combating external threats), but nowadays, the military is increasingly being used for internal tasks. There is no doubt that, as a result, legal regulations concerning the principles of the functioning of armed forces are becoming particularly important. In the legal system of the Republic of Poland, the set of legal norms regulating the basis for the functioning of the armed forces is referred to as military law. On the one hand, it is a very specialized field of law (applicable to a specific group – soldiers and civilian personnel of the armed forces) and, on the other hand, it is a very extensive field regulated in several hundred national legal acts of various importance (universally and internally binding) and in international law. 28 Safety & Defense 5(2) (2019) 28–34 that obtains and analyzes and uses information of strategic or tactical military value information about the armed forces of another country that is useful in planning and conducting military policy or military operations” [5, kindle location 179]. As mentioned in previous considerations, the armed forces are a tool of the state that can be used both externally and internally. The basic and priority task of the Polish Armed Forces is to protect the sovereignty of the Polish state, its territorial integrity, and the inviolability of its borders. This is expressly stated in Article 26 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which provides that “The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland shall safeguard the independence and territorial integrity of the State, and shall ensure the security and inviolability of its borders” [6]. Thus, in the performance of their external function, the Polish Armed Forces serve to counteract aggression and eliminate military threats as well as to maintain peace and defend national sovereignty. However, the armed forces also play an important role in ensuring the internal security of the state and thus perform their internal function. This is related, among others, to the evolution of threats in the security environment, especially the increase in the terrorist threat and the transformation of the contemporary dimension of terrorism. In the modern world, there is a growing tendency for the military to support both civil authorities and other uniformed services responsible for the internal security of the country [7, pp. 10–14]. The detailed tasks of the Polish Armed Forces in their internal function are specified in Article 3 (2) of the Act of 21 November 1967 on common defense duty, Journal of Laws of 2019 No 1541, the Armed Forces may take part in combat against natural disasters and elimination of their consequences, counter-terrorist and property protection activities, search and rescue operations or operations aimed to protect human health and life, clearing of explosives and hazardous materials of military origin from the land and their neutralization, as well as in performance of crisis management tasks [8] As Grzegorz Sobolewski emphasized, the armed forces are an effective tool of the state intended for protection of society, maintaining national and state identity, and the preservation of sovereign authority. Thus, when defining the function of the armed forces in the system of national security, it can be assumed that its essence is an organized defense and protection against external and internal threats, and its effectiveness is expressed as an appropriate ratio of the protective and defensive potential given the scale of the existing threats [9, p. 35]. The constant evolution of the security environment means that the armed forces play an increasingly important role in combating new internal and external threats, such as cyber terrorism [10, pp. 23–25]. However, the Armed Forces should not play a leading or dominant role in providing assistance to civil authorities and other uniformed services. As W. Kitler noted, the role of the Polish Armed Forces in fulfilling its internal function should be supported and serviced, and military assistance is provided when there is an objective need for it. The military must not compete with civil institutions that are subordinated to government administration bodies or local governments, or I based my analysis on source materials: mainly acts of universally binding law (the Constitution, acts, and regulations), as well as acts of internally binding law (instructions, ordinances, resolutions, decisions, guidelines, and agreements of various state authorities). 2. The role of armed forces in the state In the definition proposed (...truncated)